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2017 sparked new momentum towards building organizational climate resilience. Milestones included many influential public and private organization initiatives and a renewed commitment to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius and new... Read more

The Asia-Pacific Issue Brief Series on Urbanization and Climate Change is a joint initiative of the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre and UN-Habitat. The briefs bring forward some critical issues raised by municipal government representatives from Asian-Pacific cities at various climate change issues related workshops and seminars.
Building on the rich discussions at the workshop, the issue... Read more

The planet needs to shift to fully renewable sources of energy. No kidding. Yet "policy makers have taken up measures nowhere near proportional to the urgency to act,” writes entrepreneur Jeremy Leggett in the foreword. “Therefore this policy handbook serves as a tool to push us over the verge to a fossil free world.” It provides case studies for 8 places that include cities (San Francisco,... Read more

Since 2007, the New York City Department of Transportation has installed over 30 miles of protected bicycle lanes throughout the city, including several parking protected bicycle lanes on various avenues in Manhattan. The following report contains an analysis of how some of these Manhattan routes have impacted safety, mobility, and economic vitality. Routes were chosen for inclusion if they had... Read more

The Health Economic Assessment Tool, or HEAT, can be used when planning new infrastructure for cyclists or pedestrians, and provides valuable information for related economic and health impact assessments.
The tool can also help make the case for more investment in cycling and walking facilities by estimating the benefits of achieving national targets or illustrating potential consequences of... Read more

There is an emerging consensus that urbanisation is critically important to international development, but considerable confusion over what urbanisation actually is; whether it is accelerating or slowing; whether it should be encouraged or discouraged;and, more generally, what the responses should be.This Working Paper reviews some key conceptual issues and summarises urbanisation trends. It ends... Read more

Urban LandMark's Tenure Security Facility Southern Africa project, supported by Cities Alliance and with co-funding from UKaid by the Department for International Development (DFID) in 2012 and 2013 provided technical assistance and advisory services on incrementally securing tenure in slum upgrading in the region.
The work aimed to contribute to improved access to land for poorer people, which... Read more

Even in the intense noonday heat, the new library at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Kenya's capital stays cool - but without an air conditioner in sight. Instead, stones in the basement absorb moisture from the ground that creates a cooling effect as it evaporates, and the building's large windows and doors are protected from the sun's heat by shades. The building's energy-... Read more

By 2050, nearly three-quarters of the global population will live in cities. This is one of the biggest sustainability challenges and opportunities facing humanity. This week I’ve had the privilege of discussing this megatrend at the World Cities Summit in Singapore with city leaders and other key voices on urban development and sustainability.As I said today in the Summit’s Opening Plenary, my... Read more

ABSTRACT
Over recent decades, remarkable progress in cultivating the concepts of flood risk management has taken place across countries as diverse as India, China, Australia, the UK and the USA. This change highlights a risk management paradigm as potentially more complex than a more traditional standard-based approach as it involves ‘whole systems’ and ‘whole-life’ thinking; yet this is also its... Read more

Future urban population growth will take place in small to medium sized cities, requiring massive infrastructure (transport, water, sewerage, etc.) investment. However, if traditional approaches to building infrastructure continue to be adopted, they will lead to lifestyle and consumption patterns that will generate high levels of carbon emissions
In the second week of April this year, the... Read more